WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary women's soccer team opens postseason play as they travel to Harrisonburg, Va. to take on No. 4-seeded James Madison in a CAA Quarterfinal on Sunday, Sept. 29. Kickoff between the Tribe and Dukes is slated for 1 p.m.
TribeAthletics.com caught up with head coach
John Daly to discuss last weekend's win versus Towson, the recent play of senior
Elysse Branton, and the upcoming match with James Madison. The video feature is available through the above link or by clicking
here.
Scouting the Tribe
W&M (7-9-2, 3-4-2 CAA) earned the No. 5 seed in the 2017 CAA Championship and will travel to James Madison on Sunday afternoon. Heading into the post season the Tribe has unbeaten in four of its last five games. Redshirt sophomore
Sarah Segan leads the Tribe with 19 points on eight goals and three assists and has scored in five goals in the last six games. Three seniors have added double-digit points this season for the Tribe starting with senior
Elysse Branton who has four goals, three assists, and 11 points, while senior
Rachel Moore, who has scored in each of the last three contests, has four goals, two assists, and 10 points. The Tribe has played three goalies this season – senior
Samantha Johnson, sophomore
Katelyn Briguglio, and redshirt senior
Grace Smith. Smith has seen the most action in goal making 12 consecutive starts. She owns a 1.91 goals-against-average, 45 saves, and a shutout. Johnson has come on in relief in the last three contests and has now seen action in four matches with a start, posting 1.58 goals-against-average, and six saves.
Scouting the Dukes
James Madison finished the regular season at an even 9-9 and posted a 4-5 mark in CAA play this season. The Dukes are coming off of a 2-0 setback at Delaware, but had won two in a row previously. Haley Crawford leads the attack as she has scored six goals, six assists, and 18 points. Crawford is the team leader in goals, assists, and points. Lizzy Lazzarro is second on the team with four goals and eight points, while five players have all recorded seven points this season.
Series History vs. James Madison
Sunday's meeting between W&M and James Madison will be the 40th meeting between the two programs and the second this season. The Tribe leads the all-time series 21-14-4, but the Dukes picked up a 2-0 win in Harrisonburg earlier this season. Ginger Deel and Carmen Thomas each scored in the victory for the Dukes. This will be the second time in the last three seasons that the Tribe and the Dukes have met in the CAA Tournament. The last time was the 2015 CAA Championship when the Dukes picked up a 3-2 victory.
What's Ahead
The winner of Sunday's game earns a berth into next weekend's CAA Semifinals against top-seeded and host Hofstra on Friday, Nov. 3. Kickoff from Hofstra Soccer Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
Postseason Bound
For the seventh straight season, the William & Mary women's soccer team has qualified for the CAA postseason. The Tribe has advanced to the CAA Semifinals in each of the last five seasons and has appeared in one CAA Championship match in that time. The Tribe's last league title came in 2011.
Weekly Awards
The Tribe has had five players honored by the CAA with weekly awards. Redshirt sophomore
Sarah Segan and senior
Elysse Branton were tabbed the CAA Player of the Week and the CAA Defensive Player of the Week for the final awards of the season. Segan registered a goal and an assist, while Branton scored the game-winner in the vicoty over Towson on Oct. 22. Previously, Segan was named the CAA Player of the Week for the week Oct 9 after scoring the equalizer in the draw at Elon and scoring both goals in the win against Delaware. Sophomore
Charlotte Hyland was tabbed the CAA Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 28. Hyland registered her first career hat trick in the win over Bucknell after firing two shots in 75 minutes versus Fairleigh Dickinson. Earlier this season, freshman
Erin Dailey took home W&M first weekly award of the season by being named the CAA Rookie of the Week for the week of Aug. 21. The freshman scored the game-winning goal against Providence, earned a pair of starts, and played 131 minutes in the midfield in the Tribe's win over Providence and Boston College.
We Want Moore
Senior
Rachel Moore has been named to an All-CAA team following each of the her three previous seasons. An All-CAA Preseason selection, she has scored four goals and two assists for 10 points this season. The senior has scored goals in each of the last three matches. Moore has appeared in 78 games (most active) with 75 starts. Moore has notched 19 goals, 14 assists, and 52 points.
Bank on Branton
Senior
Elysse Branton has been a mainstay in the Tribe's lineup for her entire career, but has enjoyed a very strong final season in terms of points. Branton has set a career-high with four goals, three assists and 11 points. Against Fairleigh Dickinson, she recorded her first multi-point night of her career when she scored the first goal, before assisting on the game-winner. More recently, she has scored in the last two contests for the Tribe, including the game-winning goal against Towson in the regular season finale. The Sterling, Va. native has played in 76 career matches with 71 starts, and has added six goals, 10 assists, and 22 points.
Grasso is Getting it Going
Senior
Sami Grasso has scored goals in two of the last five games for W&M. She found the back of the net to tie to score versus Elon on Oct. 5, before scoring the game-winning goal on Oct. 12 at UNCW. For the third straight season, Grasso is now in double-figures for points, scoring three goals, four assists, and 10 points this season. Grasso has played in 76 career games with 69 starts, scoring 13 goals, 11 assists, and 37 points.
Makes You Want to Stay
Three of the Tribe's last seven games have gone to overtime. The Tribe is 1-0-2 in overtime this season, earning draws against College of Charleston (0-0) and Elon (2-2), before topping Delaware (2-1).
Golden Goal
Redshirt sophomore
Sarah Segan recorded the Tribe's first golden goal of the season on Oct. 8 against Delaware. Senior
Haley Kent won the ball and a dangerous area, before sending a pass to Segan, who buried the winner in the 102nd minute, to lift W&M to a 2-1 over Delaware.
National Honor Rolls in for the Tribe
Sophomore
Charlotte Hyland was also tabbed to the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week for her effort against Bucknell. It was the first time the Tribe has had a player honored on that team since Nicole Baxter in 2015. Redshirt sophomore
Sarah Segan earned honorable mention for the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week following her three goal week against Elon and Delaware.
Segan Scores Early, Often
Redshirt sophomore
Sarah Segan has been racking up the goal numbers since joining the Tribe last season. In 32 career games, she has already scored 18 goals. This season, the Fogelsville, Pa. native has scored eight goals, including two in the wins against Fairleigh Dickinson and Delaware. Of Segan's 18 career goals, 11 have come in the first half.
Keeping Up with Kober
Junior
Mackenzie Kober scored her first goal of the season in the 40th minute of the match against Wisconsin. Kober, who was a preseason honorable mention pick and 2015 CAA All-Rookie Team selection, has scored seven career goals, six assists, and 20 points.
First Career Points
Sophomore
Sully Boulden recorded her first career point when she earned an assist on
Mackenzie Kober's goal in the 40th minute against Wisconsin. Earlier this season, freshman
Erin Dailey scored her first career goal and points as she netted the first goal of the season against Providence.
First Career Starts
The Tribe has had seven players make their first career start this season. Sophomore
Sully Boulden earned her first career start against Maryland, before freshman
Mariana Hershner picked up the starting nod at DePaul. Junior
Arundel Miguelez started for the first time against UNC Greensboro. Freshman
Courtney Miles joined the group getting the nod against James Madison. Rookie
Alex Kuhnle was the last player to earn her first career start as she got the nod in the draw versus Charleston. Earlier this season, freshman
Erin Dailey and redshirt freshman
Lauren Kelly made their first career starts in the season opener against Providence.
Tip of the Cap
Sophomore
Charlotte Hyland registered her first career hat trick in the team's win over Bucknell on Sunday, Aug. 27. It was the first Tribe hat trick since Samantha Cordum accomplished the feat in a 3-1 win over Northeastern on Sept. 27, 2015.
Five for Fighting
The Green and Gold was well represented in the league's preseason all-conference awards, receiving a CAA-high five honorees. Seniors
Elysse Branton and
Rachel Moore as well as sophomore
Sarah Segan highlighted the awards with 2017 Preseason All-CAA honors, while senior
Haley Kent and junior
Mackenzie Kober earned honorable mention citations.
Familiar Faces
The Tribe welcomes back 21 players from last season's roster and including a good bulk of its scoring. W&M returns 80-percent of its goals and 90.5-percent of its points scorers from last year. The Tribe also returns its top five point scorers from last season.
Fresh Faces
Despite only losing four players from last year's roster, W&M welcomes 11 newcomers to the roster for the 2017 season. The Tribe welcomes one transfer – redshirt freshman
Lauren Kelly – and 10 true freshmen,
Meredith Beam,
Lorena Bugden,
Erin Dailey,
Page Frantz,
Sarah Haggerty,
Kelsey Hamer,
Mariana Hershner,
Alex Kuhnle,
Colleen Norton, and
Sophia Sanie.
Welcome Home
Former Tribe women's soccer player
Marsha Lycan '87 returns to Williamsburg as an assistant coach for the 2017 season. She appeared in 59 games for the Green and Gold, while she scored 12 goals, recorded seven assists, and 31 points. She helped the Tribe to the 1983 Division I ECAC Championship, before leading Tribe to three straight NCAA Tournaments from 1984-86. Lycan graduated from W&M with a degree psychology in 1987.
